


reCAPTCHA

by Caves



Series: One Shots and Drabbles [1]
Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: AI Jack, Atlas CEO Rhys, just somewhat wholesome content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-21
Updated: 2019-09-21
Packaged: 2020-10-25 04:58:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20718473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caves/pseuds/Caves
Summary: *Jack AI asks Rhys to verify he’s not a robot and Rhys gets stuck in picture captcha hell for 10 minutes*Rhys ignoring AI Jack until he has a question, and Jack subsequently giving him a taste of his own medicine.





	reCAPTCHA

**Jack AI asks Rhys to verify he’s not a robot and Rhys gets stuck in picture captcha hell for 10 minutes**

Learning to ignore AI Jack's constant hovering and grumbling wasn't easy. It took weeks before Rhys could successfully type an email without pausing, and being forced to listen to Jack's unnecessary input. Months before he could finally block the chatter out almost completely. Now, ignoring Jack was second nature, similar to breathing or blinking. Times like this though, when Rhys was looking over something truly important (blueprints for a new pistol), his pixelated pal was dead-set on keeping his attention. Not even five minutes into sitting down at his desk and spreading the blueprints across the surface, Jack manifested behind his left shoulder. 

"Whatcha lookin' at there, Cupcake?" The AI leaned through Rhys' torso to get a better view. "Atlas finally stepping up their pistol game?"

"Jack, listen closely because I am only going to say this once. I have to revise these blueprints by the end of today. I really don't have the time to entertain you," Rhys pinched the bridge of his nose, and closed his eyes. 

"That hurts me, Rhysie. All I wanted to do was give you some grade A weapon advice. Save you a bit of headache, eh?" Jack tapped at Rhys' forehead. His fingers phased through Rhys as he continued talking, "You know, any normal person would _jump_ at the chance to get advice from Handsome Jack himself. That reeaally says somethin' about ya, kiddo." 

As Jack droned on, the Atlas CEO rolled his eyes. He stared up at the ceiling, wondering if he could will the AI away with pure thought. Rhys took a deep breath and returned to overlooking the new weapon plans. Thankfully, the AI's incessant chatter grew softer after about fifteen minutes. Eventually, the room fell silent. Rhys scribbled notes into the margins of the blueprints as he focused on trying to finish his revisions. While carefully observing the aspects of the grip, he noticed a few inconsistencies in how it would be attached. Personally, Rhys had never dealt with a problem like this before. 

"Hey Jack, have you ever-" _PING_! Just as Rhys began asking his question, a large white box obscured his vision. The box covered Jack's hologram completely. He blinked, trying to remove the box, but something was blocking him from accessing the controls. 

Words popped up onto the white screen, reading: '**Verify that you are not a robot, Kiddo! Please select all images that include: Cars.**' Uh, what? Was he being prompted with a captcha? _In his own Echo Eye?_ No, this couldn't be possible. Again, Rhys tried to access his controls. Maybe he needed to reset the system? He attempted to power down and reset his eye, but nothing happened. There was no way for him to bypass the pop-up. Rhys was stuck, and he did not have the time to be stuck right now. 

"Are you serious right now, Jack? I need to ask you something important." Rhys tried to sound calm, though his words were met with continued silence, "For once, can you not be a total asshole?"

As if on cue, eight pictures appeared in the box. Each picture sported a similar color scheme, only three of them actually contained cars. Rhys let out a huff of breath before begrudgingly picking out the cars. With all three highlighted, he hit the '**Verify**' button at the bottom of the box. The previously selected images disappeared and were replaced with new ones. This time, there were two cars and one picture of a road. Thinking that he might have missed one of the vehicles, he went ahead and re-selected the two new squares. Rhys took his time observing each image, double checking that there weren't any cars remaining. Satisfied with his choices, he confidently hit verify. As the screen clears, the Atlas CEO released a nervous breath he didn't realize he was holding.

_PING_! '**Verify that you are not a robot, Kiddo! Please select all images that include: Street Signs**.' Eight different images loaded onto the screen. _No. Fucking. Way._

"This isn't funny you asshole!" Stomping his foot and balling up his fists, Rhys was way past trying to sound calm. "I don't have time for this today. Is this your way of throwing a tantrum when I won't give you my undivided attention when I'm clearly busy?"

While Rhys' rant continued on, the captcha pixelated away. Behind the disappearing pixels was the AI, looking absolutely tickled. Doubled over and laughing maniacally, Jack seemed to find it pretty damn funny. Rhys stood with his hands on his hips, red faced and catching his breath. His deep breaths turned into small chuckles. Those small chuckles evolved into snorting laughter. It might have been a little bit funny after all. 

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first of hopefully many short one-shots I'll be writing. I'm trying to get some practice in with my writing, and this is the best place for me to start. Feel free to leave a comment letting me know how I did, or what I should work on!
> 
> I'm taking prompts on my tumblr at https://loserstache.tumblr.com !


End file.
